Pictures of You
by nikki.san83
Summary: Whilst trying to prove a point to a young Bra, Trunks reminsices about his time and realtionship with the youngest Son family member. Summary is bad, I apologise. I hope my story is better! Trunks x Goten, rated T for teenaged boys using bad language.


**A/N: Right, I wrote this ages ago and have been playing with it for months now (to be fair I've been doing that with all the stuff I've written recently...but hey.) The other half got me into these two and dammit I do love 'em! I have so many 'little' stories to publish of Trunks and Goten but I'm too nervous since I don't know if I've got them down yet so here I am biting the bullet and putting this up! Please please please let me know what you think, I really would like to write these two again but there's no point if I'm no good, you know? Okay, good, now enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or the characters used in this story. If I did then these two would totally be in a romantic relationship so help me.**

 **Any flashbacks will be shown by being separated with lines like this:** '~.~.~' **They're written in italics as well but I also tend to use italics in the normal writing for emphasis.** **There aren't many but I get carried away, so sue me...actually don't sue me I'm poor XD**

The smoke swirled in front of Trunks' face as he pulled more chemicals from the Vegeta-dubbed 'cancer stick'. Smoking wasn't a habit he indulged in regularly, but even he had concluded that nicotine and caffeine were good for stress and thinking, and with all the coffee gone smoking was just as good. It was a bizarre combination inherited from both his parents: Vegeta's habit of ingesting enough caffeine so he could train for three days straight without stopping and Bulma's habit of stress smoking.

Goten hated it when the young prince smoked. Trunks, personally, never understood the younger saiyan's aversion to his, as Goten put it, 'nasty habit'. In fact he took great delight in deliberately lighting up a cigarette in front of his friend and watching Goten's face twist in disgust and irritation, a look so rarely seen on the youngest Son's face. A small, nostalgic smirk broke out over Trunks' face as he remembered the first time Goten found out about his smoking habit.

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 _That test had been a bitch and Trunks knew that if he'd flunked it then he was dead. So very dead. Or maybe he'd get babysitting duties of new-born Bra for a while…nope, he'd rather be dead. As much as he loved and adored his sister, changing her nappies and looking after her in any capacity was just so horrifying that he'd rather be pummelled to death by his father. Damn, he was stressing too much about this. Only one cure for that then, slipping his hand in the side pocket of his school bag the lavender-haired prince pulled out the packet of cigarettes he's asked an older boy to get for him, he couldn't keep sneaking his mother's when he needed one after all, and his lighter. Trunks sighed ever so slightly in relief as the familiar scent of burning tobacco hit his nose as he clicked the lighter and breathed in, the yellow flame glowed like a Super Saiyan's aura around the end of the cigarette. It was at this point the eldest Briefs child realised he'd stopped mid- air and was currently engaging in his favourite form of stress relief just below the clouds, it could be worse he decided._

" _Goten could turn up before I finish this," he mused aloud to himself._

" _Hey Trunks!"_

 _The sudden intake of smoke at the call of his name in none other than the voice of his lifelong friend caused Trunks to gag and cough as the chemicals hit the back of his throat. So, things just got worse. As quick a light the young genius ran a number of scenarios through his head…none of them looked too brilliant, admittedly. Damn it, Goten was flying closer every second and Trunks couldn't think of a damn thing to do to get out of this situation._

 _Okay, okay, as long as he could keep his back to Goten until he finished he'd be fine he could just blame the smell of one of his dickhead friends that Goten didn't like, it'd be fine._

 _Although he was keeping his back firmly towards the raven-haired boy Trunks could practically feel his questioning stare._

" _Are you okay there Trunks?"_

 _The inquisitive tone was nothing new for Goten, the suspicion was different though._

" _Yeah, I'm fine, why'd you ask?" Act cool and just keep it out of sight while taking sneaky drags, it's all fine, he'll buy it, and it'll be all fine._

" _You looked like you were coughing just a second ago?"_

" _You just surprised me."_

" _I surprised you? Are you feeling okay?" An amused chuckle broke free from the younger boy's throat and Trunks' muscles relaxed slightly at the sound._

 _The air swooped round as Goten moved to, what Trunks will always assume to this day was to; jokingly feel the lavender-haired boy's forehead. He never did get that far as the prince's muscles re-tensed and twisted his body swiftly away from Goten's onyx gaze. He only had a quarter of the cigarette left, dammit, he could do this. That was until, as he lifted aforementioned cigarette back up to his mouth, an upside down Goten drifted into his view._

 _Another thing Trunks will always swear by, he did not by any chance scream even a little bit like a girl. Goten would happily tell you otherwise._

" _What are you doing?"_

 _Trunks didn't answer immediately, just floated there for a moment, in complete shock. In his head, instead of doing the logical thing and thinking about how to best wiggle out of this situation, he was instead thinking how hard it was to discern his friend's expression and therefore emotions when he was upside down like that._

" _Trunks?"_

 _Was he getting angrier? The young scientist really didn't know, he assumed so, but it was really hard to tell with an upside down Goten._

" _Is that what I think it is?"_

 _He was beginning to sound more annoyed, why was he annoyed again?_

" _Trunks Vegeta Briefs, I swear to Dende if that's what I think it is…"_

 _What did he think it was?_

" _Dammit, aren't you even going to try and justify why you're fucking smoking?"_

 _Oh…yeah…_

" _I'm not."_

" _That's completely convincing when you've got a fucking cigarette hanging from your mouth!"_

" _It's really hard to take you seriously when it looks like you're smiling, just saying."_

" _TRUNKS!"_

 _Well, if you can't get out of it might as well go on the defensive. Another thing he'd learnt from his dear mother._

" _So, what if I am?"_

" _Then you're an asshole."_

" _Surely it's my choice though?"_

" _You're supposed to be a genius."_

" _I am."_

" _Really? There is a reason your dad calls them cancer sticks, you know!"_

" _That only applies to mum, she's human, and I'm not."_

" _You're half."_

" _And what's my other half?"_

" _THAT'S NOT THE POINT, DAMMIT!"_

 _Okay…so just maybe the punch Goten threw at his face was justified considering Trunks had allowed himself a triumphant victory smirk._

 _At least he'd managed to finish with his stress relief technique first._

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Trunks chuckled as he picked up a picture taken just after. The fifteen-year-old him was standing there, black eye clearly visible, gesturing wildly at the back of Goten's head obviously throwing a form of what Goten dubbed 'Trunks logic' at the younger boy. The fourteen-year-old raven-haired boy had the most petulant expression plastered across his face as he stubbornly ignored his then friend.

The now nineteen-year-old lavender-haired teenagerbreathed out another cloud of chemicals, careful not to catch one of the sillier polaroid moments in the smoke's path. It was clearly taken by his mother; she was terrible for capturing random moments like fact, the young heir discerned that at least 90% of the pictures spread around him were taken by the infamous Bulma 'Family Photographer' Briefs.

There was a logical reason that Trunks had dug out his family photos and spread them around him on his bedroom floor.

It was to do with something that a now five-year-old Bra had said:

"Big brother, I've decided that I'm going to always be in pictures with Pan like you are with Goten"

As such, the elder Vegeta-Briefs child corrected his younger sibling, stating that he wasn't always in pictures with Goten. Currently, the evidence was rapidly vaporising that idea. There was the odd picture, mostly the serious and planned family portraits, where Goten wasn't present.

But in all of the candid shots Trunks had picked up so far of himself it was clear that a young Son was near by, or close behind. In. Every. Single. One.

Taking a deep pull from the cigarette loosely clasped between his fingers, that weren't currently holding the picture, the demi-saiyan genius huffed a long sigh. It was fair enough that since the two became a boyfriend thing rather than just a friend thing, as Goten had awkwardly put it once another thing Trunks delighted in reminding him about, that the two were in pictures together. This had reached a major peak when both Bulma and Chi-Chi had a slightly disturbing obsession about catching an intimate moment between the two on film - something that had yet to happen; not that the two half-saiyan boys didn't indulge in a little public affection. But since their mother's interference had reached its current levels it had become something of a game that the two troublemakers weren't about to lose.

Besides, they both had enough of the small private moments between them saved as snapshots on password protected mobile phones; away from meddling mothers. There was no need for any in family collections.

Knowing he'd gone off on a tangent but not really caring Trunks picked up his aforementioned mobile phone and punched in the password allowing a small smile a emerge as his eyes met the picture he saw.

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 _Trunks exited the bathroom adjoined to his bedroom after drying himself off with a quick rise in his energy. As he yanked a clean t-shirt over his head the sound of irritable sighing snagged his attention. Goten was stood in front of what was practically their mirror by this point picking at his appearance._

 _The young prince swore Goten's next sigh was forced when he noticed how Trunks had appeared in the reflection behind him. Blue eyes met dark, almost black ones through the reflective surface._

" _What's with all the sighing honey?" Trunks still couldn't help teasing the younger demi despite the recent shift in their relationship; in fact that new shift gave him even more ammo._

" _Jerk…" The youngest Son's typical retort came just as Trunks' had expected, the smirk played on his lips before he could help it._

" _Ouch, I'm so wounded my love!" After placing an opened palm against his chest, the lavender-haired boy mock collapsed on his boyfriend, pressing his front to Goten's back._

 _Another sigh was the raven-haired boy's reply as he tried to shove the young genius off of him. The older hybrid was having none of this however and instead wrapped a firm arm around Goten's waist keeping the two together even as Trunks pulled his weight off of his partner._

" _Okay, joking aside what's up?"_

" _Nothing, I'm okay."_

" _As your prince and more importantly your concerned other half I order you to tell me!"_

" _I thought we weren't joking anymore?"_

" _Who said I was?"_

" _Trunks…"_

" _Uh oh, you said my name, we're getting serious!"_

" _It's nothing alright, you big jerk…"_

 _Trunks pressed a gentle kiss to his lover's cheek in an attempt to be holistically comforting._

" _How come you can roll out of bed and I think you look great and I look in the mirror and just…ugh…I can't help it, it's not even funny anymore." The soft, contemplative tone of the black-haired boy's voice told of how deeply rooted in his thoughts this problem was._

" _Do you want me to drive you into school?"_

" _What? How does that solve anything?" Trunks didn't need to see Goten's incredulous stare to know it was there._

 _He shrugged before softly replying "Gives you another half an hour to sort yourself out?"_

 _Goten could be so damn critical of himself some days, not in a self-loathing way by any means. It was more a comparison to everyone else in the Z fighter gang, Trunks knew very well that the youngest Son's comparisons heavily revolved around Goku, Gohan and Trunks himself to a degree. And to be quite honest the genius hated that Goten felt that he had to compare and critique himself like that._

 _The raven-haired boy nodded even as he let his body fall into Trunks' embrace, taking slight advantage of Goten's relaxed mood, the older demi leant forward slightly and kissed the skin behind his partner's ear before whispering gently "Also means you get to turn up with the second best looking guy I know."_

 _The younger boy snorted before jerking to full alertness "And who would be the hottest guy you know, huh?" Trunks noticed his lover's already fiery glare burn even hotter as azure eyes rolled in their sockets as affectionately as possible. Some times Goten's lack of really listening to a sentence could be a bother._

" _I'm looking at him moron." Sky blue eyes kept a lazy lock with a jet black gaze and the young genius' languid drawl was lost in the pale skin of Goten's neck as he dropped butterfly kisses there, taking delight in the way a steady blush crept onto his love's cheeks._

" _I…uh…guess I didn't…think of it like that…"_

" _You don't say."_

" _Sorry…"_

"' _Ten?"_

" _Hm?"_

" _Shut up and kiss me, and that is an order."_

" _Well, who am I to deny that?"_

 _This time Trunks didn't need to watch the mirror to see his boyfriend's tender, if not slightly cheeky, smile since Goten turned his head to the side. As their lips met, one of the younger's hands tangled itself in lavender strands whilst the other covered and clasped the tan arm over his stomach. The owner of that arm tightened it ever so slightly and with his other hand the elder of the two slipped his phone out of pocket and snapped the picture worthy moment as best he could._ ~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Trunks hadn't done too bad of a job considering he'd been…distracted _._ Of course Goten had exacted a just revenge. He knew very well that Goten's background was taken during a moment of weakness for the older hybrid. He'd gotten him while he was still half asleep…how unfair was that?

"Why, oh dear love of my life, are you sitting in your darkened room staring at a crap tonne of pictures?"

Trunks smirked before he could really help it at the sound of the familiar tone. The last remains of his cigarette in his mouth the teenaged prince turned his head over his shoulder to look at his partner. He'd been staring at pictures of a younger Goten for so long that finally looking at his lover's present self was akin to a breath of fresh air.

The scrawny fourteen-year-old who'd given him a black eye was gone, having grown into a young man whose body had moulded to its strength and power without leaving something like a bodybuilder in its wake. The slow yet sweet seven-year-old who Trunks had saved the world with wasn't really present anymore either. Eighteen-year-old Goten wasn't nearly as slow, he still had his moments but that was mostly when Trunks went off on a tangent about Capsule Corp. and science things. Instead he was far more in tune with the rest of the world now that he wasn't sheltered in a metaphorical bubble by Chi-Chi. Whilst not a straight A student like Trunks and Gohan had been Goten was by no stretch of the imagination stupid, actually if one took a hard look at his grades they'd see that the youngest Son was in fact only a few marks shy of Trunks and Gohan's final results. At eighteen, the raven-haired boy was far more individualistic than anyone would've guessed, preferring to do his own thing and be his own person, rather than following his family's expectations like his older brother had. Trunks knowingly, and proudly, blamed his partner's rebellious streak and slightly sarcastic nature on himself but he loved it when Goten pushed back against him every now and then. He was by no means nasty though, he retained his sweet nature; helping people, looking after Pan and Bra without complaint, keeping people company when they needed it, doing the little things that brightened someone's day. Rather like the rest of the Son men the youngest was hardly mean in anything other than joking – until you pissed him off, then you would feel the wrath of what Trunks personally believed to be the worst of the Son family tempers. Gohan and Goku, even Chi-Chi herself, had nothing on their youngest family member if you riled him up enough.

No matter what age though, Goten's eyes had always stayed the same, dark eyes that seemed to draw you in. Nothing had ever been hidden in Goten's gaze, at least not from Trunks; his emotions were nearly always present in his eyes. Whether he couldn't hide them, couldn't be bothered or felt he didn't need to was still up for debate in the genius' head. It was also still up for argument whether it was just him that got to see the younger teen like that or whether it was everyone.

Right now embarrassment was present in those onyx orbs, the older boy's intense examination must've been getting to him, accompanied by a flush that was travelling swiftly up to the hairline of his dark head of hair. Another change, the wild and crazy spikes that had earned Goten the title of 'mini-Goku' were long gone. Instead he'd grown it out, resembling the younger version of Gohan nowadays.

"H-how long are you going to keep staring at me like that?" The older boy didn't miss the slight stammer of his partner's words; his smirk only grew in response.

"I'm not making you uncomfortable now am I honey?"

"S-shut up you jerk!"

"Geez 'Ten relax, you know I just love to wind you up."

"I know, you're such a bastard…"

"Well, my parents weren't married when I was conceived so really I guess I am!"

"I thought you said you'd quit?" Trunks blinked and shielded his eyes as artificial light flooded the room from the light above his head. Knowing precisely what Goten was referring to he carefully lay back against the carpeted floor, tilted his head back and chanced a look at him. He didn't look annoyed per se, more frustrated…and still a little embarrassed. The older half-Saiyan didn't mean to let the smile slip on his face right that second. It was at that point the younger of the duo looked irritated "It's not funny Trunks."

"I'm not smiling at that," did he gamble with Goten's mood…why not? "you just look so cute all flustered like that."

The Son boy shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose in what Trunks knew was irritation. "What is it with your family and not giving a damn about your health?"

A snort emanated from the lavender-haired prince's direction as Goten wandered over to him to stand by his head, his eyes acting like black holes and drawing in a cerulean stare. "In answer to your question I have, this was just…a moment of weak-," Trunks cut himself off before uttering the 'w' word, he hated that word; his distaste for it a product of Vegeta's doing, instead he corrected himself "It was a moment of indulgence."

"Uh huh," Putting out the stub of the topic of their conversation the older boy sat up slowly and flashed his lover a devilish grin. "I don't know what you're thinking but forget it!"

The younger hybrid barely finished his sentence before his troublesome boyfriend pulled him down to sit between the supposed genius' legs so Goten's legs were thrown across one of Trunks' whilst the older boy's other knee was braced against the younger's back.

"Sorry sweetie, what were you saying?"

The dark-haired boy just stuck his tongue out at his partner in retaliation before swivelling so his back faced the lavender-haired teen. The reply from the elder was a deep chuckle.

"You never did answer my question you bully."

"And which question was that?"

"What are you doing?"

"Tell me what you see Goten." Before a protest could be made Trunks snaked his arms around his lover's waist, resting his chin on a strong shoulder, pressing his face into the pale neck he found and smiling at the slight shudder he secured in return.

"Your family photo album."

"Hm."

There was a comfortable silence in which Trunks could practically hear Goten try to click everything together.

"That pile over there!"

"What about it?"

"You were facing it, what's in it?" Much to his chagrin Trunks released his hold on Goten momentarily so the younger could crawl over and pick up the stack of photos before returning to his previous position, allowing the elder to resume his hold. As the duo remained in a peaceful quiet, all that could be heard was the flicking of the photographs as Goten flipped through them. "They're all of you…but why?"

"I was trying to prove a point to my sister but it didn't go so well."

"And that point was?"

"You're doing well so far, keep it up."

"Don't condescend me you ass." The smile that grew on the elder's face against the younger's neck was totally not due to the whining quality of said younger teen's voice. It was strangely reminiscent of their carefree, childhood days. The whine begged for assistance and for once Trunks decided to be merciful.

"I'm not, here I'll help a bit, this album is supposed to include _my_ family, so me, Bra, mother and father, right?"

"Yeah…? But what's that got to do with it?" Keeping his voice to himself Trunks decided to let Goten puzzle it out himself for a moment. "Oh." There it was. "But I'm in nearly all of these…with you."

"That's right."

"What were you trying to prove to Bra?"

"That we weren't always this freakishly co-dependant?"

"Seriously?" Despite his best attempt to sound insulted, the older hybrid could hear the cheekiness seeping into his lover's voice.

"No, not really, well kind of? She mentioned something about always being in pictures with Pan like I am with you, so me being me tried to prove her wrong, I wasn't exactly successful." The almost childish giggles from Goten provoked a well deserved, yet loving, eye roll from blue eyes. "It's not funny."

"It is though, you were actually wrong!"

"I've been wrong before!"

"But you've never admitted it!"

"Yeah…well…don't go telling everyone, I have a reputation you know!"

The jumping of his lover's chest died down with his laughter.

"It's weird to think I've never not known you."

Giving Goten a small kiss on his jaw, Trunks looked up at his boyfriend's contemplative expression.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Well, I might not have gotten into so much trouble!"

Trunks wasn't actually sure who started laughing first, just that it was contagious and before long the two were curled around each other in side-splitting laughter, nostalgic of all the trouble they would get into. For a moment the older boy could swear that the laughter in his ears belonged to a giggling Goten in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber as Trunks rattled off another insane, Vegeta-class strategy. This nostalgia thing was getting old. Still something made him think.

"You know what's weirder?" Goten looked at him, cheeks flushed from his laughter, with a Son style grin plastered on his face. "Thinking there was a whole year of my life where I didn't know you."

In response Goten just turned in his arms and kissed him with such force that Trunks felt his back hit the floor again, Goten's lips still attached to his own as the younger boy hovered over him. It sort of felt like a promise. Sure I wasn't there for that year but I'm not going away now, not that Trunks had been worried. Goten had always been there, it was evidenced in all the pictures of them.

 **A/N 0.2: I hope you enjoyed :D! To all the people who are waiting on my...longstanding multi-chaptered stories, I've recently found myself some mega free time, in the form of a gap year so I'll look at getting myself back into those. However, there is the added issue of the Goten to my Trunks who insists on getting me into new fandoms and...pairings...most of which are rare...which gives me the desire to write for them naturally. I've already planned out some stuff for these new fandoms. It's...problematic, BUT I will try my hardest to get back into those stories. Anyway enough rambling from me I bet you're all sick of it ^.^' Please do tell what you thought, I can't stress enough how much feedback matterss to me cause I do want to start writing again but if I'm too bad then I'll find a new hobby XD**


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